Worship
When you come into contact with, become aware of, or have a revelation of the holiness of God, there is only one appropriate response: worship. Without such a revelation, we cannot really have worship. We can have a song service, but we do not enter into worship until we have a revelation, however inadequate it may be, of the holiness of God. And the holiness of God is not to be explained. It cannot be defined. It can only be revealed.
This is very important because I think many Christians have the idea that holiness is a set of rules about where you may go, what you may do, and how you may talk and dress. That has nothing to do with holiness. Paul was very emphatic about that in Colossians:
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in selfimposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20-23)
This is so profoundly true. The more you focus on the things you must not do, the more power they have over you. You think to yourself, Don’t lose your temper; whatever you do, don’t lose your temper. What is the next thing you do? You lose your temper, because you are focusing on the wrong thing. No wonder many people have decided that they want nothing to do with holiness.
Hebrews 12 speaks about the discipline that God as a Father has for His children: “For they [our human fathers] indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10)
Holiness is not a set of do’s and don’ts. God is not holy because He has a set of rules in front of Him in order to check His own conduct. Rules have nothing to do with biblical or divine holiness. Holiness is the essence of what God is. Everything about God is holy. Thus, in order to have an understanding of holiness, we need to have an understanding of who God is and what He is like.
God is Light: This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
God is Love: He who does not love does not know God, for God is love….And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:8, 16)
God is Justice and Judgment: For I proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He. (Deuteronomy 32:3-4)
God is Anger and Wrath: God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; the LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. (Nahum 1:2)
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11)
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)
God Is Mercy and Lovingkindness: Have mercy upon me, 0 God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1)
Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LoRD, for He is good! For His mercy [His lovingkindness, His faithfulness to His covenant] endures forever. (Psalm 106:1)
God is Grace: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
God is Power: The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, 0 LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea. (Psalm 93:1-4)
Let me just recapitulate the seven attributes of God: (1) light; (2) love; (3) justice and judgment; (4) anger and wrath; (5) mercy and lovingkindness; (6) grace; and (7) power. I believe God’s holiness is all of that. It is the total being of God. Holy is the only word that is used three times of God in the same sentence, in both the Old and New Testaments. In Isaiah the seraphim cry, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! (Isaiah 6:4)
And in Revelation, the living creatures and the elders fall down and cry,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)
I believe there is significance in the threefold repetition. I think holy is the Father; holy is the Son; holy is the Spirit. And no one else is holy. God is unique in His holiness. And we can only understand or become partakers of holiness insofar as we relate to God.
Worship is our response to the holiness of God. Again, when there is no revelation of holiness, there can be no worship. You can have a nice song service. You can have praise and thanksgiving. But you cannot have worship. For when we know the holiness of God in any measure whatsoever, the appropriate response is always worship.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. (Psalm 100:4)
We thank God because we are grateful for what He has done. When we praise Him, we are acknowledging His greatness, but that is not the end. Many of us stop there. We have entered into the courts, but what are we there for? We are there to worship. If we stop after a praise song, we may have had a good time, but we haven’t really found the heart and the purpose of God. There is something crying out for more. We desire the presence of the Lord. We yearn to be in direct contact with the living God and to offer Him the only thing we have to offer, our worship. So let’s continue our journey and ask the Lord if, by His grace, He will enable us to enter into His presence. For when we are in His presence, we will begin to truly worship.